A home’s facade accounts for almost all of its visibility as far as a passer-by is concerned, and more often than not, the average person’s eye focuses specifically on the front entryway door of a home. It’s kind of like making eye contact with a person. The door is essential. It’s universal. This is how you enter — how you access the home. It’s the part of the home you interact with first when you arrive and last when you leave. And when they’re trying to revamp their home’s facade, the first thing most people do is look for new doors. 

Proportionate to the amount of money you’re spending, fixing up your house with a new front entryway door makes a huge impact on its overall look. Not only can a new door refresh your excitement over coming home after work and make you the envy of your neighbors, it can also be the difference between someone passing up on your property and someone deciding it’s good enough to buy or rent. These are some of the hottest moves being made by those seeking to breathe new life into their home’s facade in 2021.

Wide

Have you ever felt like your front door might be a bit small? Those with spacious, open homes, or even just spacious and open foyers, might want to start looking at extra wide options for their next door. An extra wide door screams, “yeah, we’ve got room to spare.” It can make a big impact when welcoming guests as it swings in dramatically. From the street, it won’t be missed, and you can bet anyone who sees it will think about whether or not their home can accommodate such a door. Depending on how wide you go, your newly widened door frame will make double doors an option in the future, if ever you get sick of your ostentatiously massive single door.

Minimalist

Yeah, it’s back… we think? Truthfully, minimalism will never really go out of style. It just needs to take a break sometimes, and after every break, it comes back better, bolder, and more minimal. Now is a great time to embrace the stoic slab, since 1950s-style brutalist architecture is once again in the limelight. Your door can be natural wood, stained wood, or even synthetic materials, but minimalist doesn’t mean simple, and it also doesn’t always equate to classy — sometimes it’s just cheap. When you’re looking for a minimalist door design, make sure the door itself is still of high quality and craftsmanship, and if it’s made of wood, opt for the best woods you can get, from the best manufacturer. There’s nothing lazy about stoicism.

Industrial

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an ultra-chic smart home composed entirely of polished concrete and solar panels styled to look like a collection of platonic solids; a front door in the industrial style can do the trick. A brushed steel or matte fiberglass door with a single, narrow window, or even something utterly alien like a porthole, will make even a modest house look modern and up-to-date. Such a door suggests the same kind of lofty renovations have been applied to the interior of the home as they have to its exterior. You can pair these kinds of doors with an ecologically friendly front yard and natural walkway — think Japanese rock gardens and native plants rather than buffalo grass — for the complete mod facade. If you’re trying to attract high-end renters to your investment property, Utopia Property Management recommends outfitting with an industrial style door, with bonus points for a keypad lock.

Dutch

Yes, the Dutch-style half door usually goes in the back of the house. Or somewhere with a barn. Or in a dimly colored painting. Say what you will, but sometimes, it pays to be weird; don’t act like you wouldn’t look twice if you saw one of these used as someone’s front entryway door. These days, buyers, renters, and neighbors appreciate something unique, and in a world of adorable, hip neighborhoods where homeowners embrace their absolute freedom of customization, why not apply the objectively neat benefits of the Dutch door to the front of your home? You’ll be thankful on breezy days, especially if you’re the type who prefers not to shut the world out. There’s no reason to hide all that adorable Americana in the backyard. You can party in the front, too.

Color

There’s nothing wrong with natural wood finishes. They aren’t going out of style. They’re lovely. However, if you’ve looked around the neighborhood, you might have noticed this new trend yourself: color. All kinds of colors have now entered the realm of doors, and this year, we’re taking note of cool tones. Blues and grays, and even greens. There’s the classic lipstick red, but that’s always been a thing, and a contentious thing at that. Set red aside. Cool colors have the mic in 2021. From navy to turquoise to violet, doors are hitting the paint swatches, often in conjunction with an exterior repaint of the entire home. And for those looking to make a door-only statement, without a complete wardrobe change, there are all kinds of wonderful stains available that allow the natural grain of a wood door to shine through.